Help, california is insane, mpg mods needed

[Plati]

Bro, I FEEL your pain!!! I also live in So. Cal. and for the life of me, CAN'T ABIDE getting ripped off! I travel to Utah a few times a month and their gas prices-two weeks ago was $2.58/gal most everywhere and cheaper at Costco!!! I HATE the lefty run gov't. of this state!!! It's disgusting what they've done here!!! Ok, I'm off my soapbox now. Sorry, I have NO magic pill for you other than doing as I will-MOVE to A MORE SANE STATE!!! I drive my 2000 EB as little as possible for now.

Isnt the reason gas is more expensive in California mainly because EVERYTHING is more expensive in California? Like real estate and food and parts and … everything. If someone is to build a gas station it's more expensive than in Terre Haute Indiana, right. Its a business and they have to charge the customer more to pay the costs. Why blame the government? I don't get it. Sure the taxes are higher but that's a small part of the higher cost. Right?

And roads and bridges cost money. They don't appear magically. Why not tax gas to pay for that? Do people think its all free or just somebody else should pay for it? Why not make the vehicles that use the infrastructure pay up for that infrastructure?

 

[Adieu]

Isnt the reason gas is more expensive in California mainly because EVERYTHING is more expensive in California? Like real estate and food and parts and … everything. If someone is to build a gas station it's more expensive than in Terre Haute Indiana, right. Its a business and they have to charge the customer more to pay the costs. Why blame the government? I don't get it. Sure the taxes are higher but that's a small part of the higher cost. Right?

And roads and bridges cost money. They don't appear magically. Why not tax gas to pay for that? Do people think its all free or just somebody else should pay for it? Why not make the vehicles that use the infrastructure pay up for that infrastructure?

Infrastructure in CA is kinda iffy, though

And it has the largest tax base already, been that way for a while now

Also, NO, I don't for a minute buy that a middle-of-nowhere gas station along a highway 50-100 miles into the sticks from the expensive coastal regions is somehow intrinsically several times more expensive to operate and supply than somewhere 2 miles above sea level and 1000 miles from any port up in Utah somewhere....


And yes it'd have to be SEVERAL times, because the price of fuel is, still, after all somewhat based on the prices of oil and refined fuels themselves, so you gotta subtract that crap before you compare expenses for different locations

 

[David1]

I will sell you a Suzuki Intruder 800 $1500 50mpg pick up only. I believe Ca. even allows lane splitting, so you also benefit in traffic

Right now i need my 01 xlt (5.4l rwd) to sip gas like fine wine and not chug it like cheap beer, i know i know its a near 5000lb land yacht its not made for good...no reasonable...no sane mpg but here in the wonderful, awesome fantasically amazing state of callifornia gas is damn near 4 buck a gallon. 4!!! (State average 4.03, locally 3.99-4.00). Besides 3rd row, spare tire, tow package, tuner, is there anything i could do for more than 13mpg? I cant trade for a new 50+mpg camry(wouldn't mind it though, thing has 208hp), or swap a 3.5l eb in. Thank you.

 

[Sicksouljerk]

Start with the fuel and air mixture. Make sure your sparkplugs are not worn out and gapping is on spec, clean throttle body, make sure gaskets aren't ripped, so you're getting all the air pressure u need, use a higher octane fuel, change your oil, half synthetic is good. Next your tires are the next thing to check. Air pressure is at spec, aftermarket wheels eat up mpg alot, don't know if yours is oem. Maybe switch to smaller rim,/larger profile tires.

 

[01ExpyOwner]

For those who wanted to know commute is 70%ish rural back roads at about 40, i do live near oroville/paradise (made it out unscathed) i cleaned out the truck loss about a pound in dirt, took out the spare and third row, cheapest ca legal cat is $100 more ($300 on rockauto) than cheapest 48 state cat. Sparkplugs soon but ford f*cked up when designing this beast so ill have to take it the a shop. Will taller skinnier tire help. Might just take 2nd row 60 out and replace it with thin plywood.
Current list of problems:
Leak from passenger sunvisor (wtf)
No heat\ac
Bad cat passenger side
Dents everywhere
Possibly been wrecked (paint on some panels are slightly off
Lock can take a couple clicks to unlock
Rear passenger door doesn't unlock with driver's button
R. passenger door doesnt open from the inside
5 separate chips in windshield (no cracks)
Metal rod from sunroof is bent and hanging off (sunroof still works)
Many more
Also i try to hypermile drive it, and only press the gas pedal with a toe as light as possible, no gas down hills or when red light is within 3/4 of a mile etc
Edit previous owner (or before them) did air ride delete i believe its the monroe kit from rockauto and the rear struts and stuff squeaks when going over speed bumps

 

[Wal92tt]

1, ha
2, i thought about a motorcycle, unfortunately like i mentioned early we 'share' the truck
3, how much you you guys normally spend on gas each month?

You "share" the truck. No biggie, simply walk away from it. Buy a cheap car for a few hundred dollars or motorcycle. You'll be ahead in no time! Sure, you'll feel/say you'll loose out by giving up the truck. Consider how much $ you'll be continually putting into it if you don't walk away....?
Have your mom buy your portion out or pay you payments for your portion of the truck.

I'd love to get 13mpg on my 99! I get 10-11mpg.
The only answer is to stop driving/using/sell the truck. Not the answer you wanted, we all know, but it's THE answer! I fault you in no way, but you started this post without proper understanding/ignorance of your truck, and how science works. There are not any such mods in existence which will garner the results you're looking for...

It takes money to make money is an old saying. It's going to take you getting rid of the truck, in order for you to start getting ahead in your situation.... It's what most here have been saying, in one way or another. Many of us have been there, poor students, scraping to get by.

 

[Wal92tt]

For those who wanted to know commute is 70%ish rural back roads at about 40, i do live near oroville/paradise (made it out unscathed) i cleaned out the truck loss about a pound in dirt, took out the spare and third row, cheapest ca legal cat is $100 more ($300 on rockauto) than cheapest 48 state cat. Sparkplugs soon but ford f*cked up when designing this beast so ill have to take it the a shop. Will taller skinnier tire help. Might just take 2nd row 60 out and replace it with thin plywood.
Current list of problems:
Leak from passenger sunvisor (wtf)
No heat\ac
Bad cat passenger side
Dents everywhere
Possibly been wrecked (paint on some panels are slightly off
Lock can take a couple clicks to unlock
Rear passenger door doesn't unlock with driver's button
R. passenger door doesnt open from the inside
5 separate chips in windshield (no cracks)
Metal rod from sunroof is bent and hanging off (sunroof still works)
Many more
Also i try to hypermile drive it, and only press the gas pedal with a toe as light as possible, no gas down hills or when red light is within 3/4 of a mile etc
Edit previous owner (or before them) did air ride delete i believe its the monroe kit from rockauto and the rear struts and stuff squeaks when going over speed bumps

You have no, to limited funds, but yet you're slowly putting money into the truck which is only eating away money as fast as you put it in?


Driving so as to not move the tach over 2k will help in your mpg. Going over 2k will hurt mpg.
It's hard to drive in this way, but it's possible!

 

[Shabadoo]

Has anyone ever tried running or been so overheated that the car kicked into emergency mode and ran on 4 cylinders? I've seen this brought up a few times here and there. It seems the consensus is that this isn't a viable way to get better gas mileage for a number of reasons but desperate times....Also, I'm just curious how it runs